A Change of Heart

Dear Sisters-

On to "Matters of the Heart". 

 

No, really.  I came across an interesting scripture chain that I wanted to share, so watch for what it says about the heart.

To set the stage, Abinadi is attempting to convince the people to repent of their sins and change their ways:

(Mosiah 11)

 23 And it shall come to pass that except this people repent and turn unto the Lord their God, they shall be brought into bondage; and none shall deliver them, except it be the Lord the Almighty God.

 24 Yea, and it shall come to pass that when they shall cry unto me I will be slow to hear their cries; yea, and I will suffer them that they be smitten by their enemies.

 25 And except they repent in sackcloth and ashes, and cry mightily to the Lord their God, I will not hear their prayers, neither will I deliver them out of their afflictions; and thus saith the Lord, and thus hath he commanded me.

The “sackcloth and ashes” were used in ancient times as an outward sign of one’s inward condition.  It acted as a symbol that visibly demonstrated grief, repentance, and a change of heart.  Now skip ahead a couple chapters to see how they responded to Abinidi’s teachings.

(Mosiah 13)

 32 And now, did they understand the law? I say unto you, Nay, they did not all understand the law; and this because of the hardness of their hearts; for they understood not that there could not any man be saved except it were through the redemption of God.

So rather than changing their hearts as Abinidi had previously urged, they “hardened their hearts” and as a result, they “did not understand.”  I believe that when our hearts become hard, we doubt the truth and the gospel becomes difficult for us to understand.  The opposite is also true: as our hearts are softened, the truths of the gospel become easier to understand and the Holy Ghost can testify and teach us.

Now jump forward even further to see what happen to these “hard hearted people.”  If you recall, they were attacked and captured by the Lamanites.  They basically became their slaves, giving them half of everything.  This became so difficult that they decided to fight for their freedoms; however, they lost…. FOUR TIMES!  And they lost big—they buried thousands and suffered greatly.  They were forced to humble themselves and admit defeat:

(Mosiah 21)

 13 And they did humble themselves even to the dust, subjecting themselves to the yoke of bondage, submitting themselves to be smitten, and to be driven to and fro, and burdened, according to the desires of their enemies.

 14 And they did humble themselves even in the depths of humility; and they did cry mightily to God; yea, even all the day long did they cry unto their God that he would deliver them out of their afflictions.

 15 And now the Lord was slow to hear their cry because of their iniquities; nevertheless the Lord did hear their cries, and began to soften the hearts of the Lamanites that they began to ease their burdens; yet the Lord did not see fit to deliver them out of bondage.

These words should be familiar.  Do you remember what Abinadi had warned against in the beginning?  It all happened just as he prophesied.  The point I wanted to make was that once they finally “changed their hearts” the Lord actually softened the hearts of their enemies.  He didn’t take their problems away, but he lightened their load. 

 

Sisters, soften your hearts so that you can understand, and so that the Lord can ease your burdens.  I testify that He will do this.  God does not lie.  He has given us a modern day “Abinadi” through Thomas S. Monson, and we need to heed his words to avoid the terrible heartache that results from hard hearts.  I am looking forward to General Conference.  Let’s all try to prepare our hearts for the messages so that we can understand.  I know this is true, and I hope you will ponder these scriptures and make discoveries of your own.  I look forward to hearing about them.

I love you and hope you have an excellent week!

Sincerely,

Lydia